Johnathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are partners is life (as in married) and in business (as in successful makers of commercials for umpteen years). Maybe it took such a combination to bring LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE to the screen without slighting either the family angle of the story, or the sly visual vocabulary used to portray… Read More »
STEP UP to Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum is game for a challenge, whether starring in a film that requires serious dancing, or tackling a multi-city press tour. When I talked to him on July 21, 2005, his boyhood on the bayou seemed like a fun place to start before moving on to the dangers (to him) of dancing with a car,… Read More »
Neil Burger Unveils THE ILLUSIONIST
When I spoke with Neil Burger on July 31, 2006, it was impossible to not start with his previous film, INTERVIEW WITH THE ASSASSIN. Both that film and THE ILLUSIONIST deal with what is real and what is a clever bit of misdirection. His newest film, though, boasts not just a fiendishly clever plot, but also… Read More »
THE LAST KISS of Zach Braff
Zach Braff had been to the Emmy Awards show the night before flying into San Francisco for THE LAST KISS’ press day on August 28, 2006. With little sleep, he was still very funny and very thoughtful as he pondered the film’s themes of love, commitment, and the definition of surprise, as well as what… Read More »
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Coaches THE GRIDIRON GANG
When I talked with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on September 7, 2006, time was of the essence. As befits his pop culture icon status, everyone wanted to talk to him. There was time enough, though, for us to cover crunching bones, popping tendons, and the turning point in his life, all of which he discussed… Read More »
Forest Whitaker is THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
Idi Amin is a daunting subject for a feature film, but Forest Whitaker played the former Ugandan dictator’s charismatic side as well as the murderous rages into which he could erupt at any moment. When I spoke with him on October 6, 2006, that was the first thing I asked him about before moving on… Read More »
Steve and Terri Irwin Talk THE CROCODILE HUNTER: COLLISION COURSE
If there is a difference between the personnas that the Irwins project on their television show and film and how they are in person, I can’t fathom what it is. They’re engaging, fun, and passionate about educating kids (and maybe their parents, too) about the beauty and fragility of nature. They’re also fearless, it seems, about dealing… Read More »
Edward Norton Remakes THE PAINTED VEIL
Edward Norton doesn’t seem to have just coped with the added headaches that come with being a producer as well as an actor in THE PAINTED VEIL, he seems to have thrived with the challenge of dealing with them. Norton spent years trying to bring M. Somerset Maugham’s novel to the screen for a second time, including the… Read More »
Guillermo del Toro Penetrates PAN’S LABYRINTH
Maybe it was the season, but Guillermo del Toro seemed positively jolly when I spoke to him on December 15, 2006. PAN’S LABYRINTH was earning well-deserved Oscar(tm) buzz, and had won the San Francisco Film Critic’s Circle award for Best Foreign Language Film just four days before. The obvious place for me to start, having… Read More »
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Observes THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Das Leben der Anderen)
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck had always been fascinated by the Stasi, the East German secret police who took spying on the public to an almost absurd extreme. During his meticulous research about them for THE LIVES OF OTHERS, he became something of an expert on their procedures, consulting not only scholarly experts, but also by including on his… Read More »